


make me no promises, tell me no lies

by isopsephy



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-03-26
Packaged: 2018-10-10 21:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10448076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isopsephy/pseuds/isopsephy
Summary: Snow is a curious child and Regina doesn't approve.





	

**Author's Note:**

> written approx 100 years ago when I still watched this show. Snow and Regina and Cora and patterns and cycles of abuse and anger and desperation. Practically a drabble.

Regina is late for a magic lesson with her mother and she sees Snow crouched behind the dresser at the door to Cora’s chamber. She reacts on instinctual horror. If Cora caught her… She wraps a hand around Snow’s mouth and yanks her into the hallway by those raven locks that are so like her mother’s if drunk Leopold’s ravings are anything to go by. Snow’s eyes are wide in fear and her mouth is too, damp against Regina’s palm. She drags the girl down the hallway until she thinks they’re out of range of her mother’s ears and throws her down.

“Don’t you ever sneak in there again!” she hisses at her teary-eyed stepdaughter.  
Snow stares up at her with tears glossing her stunned expression. Regina has never hurt her before this. Oddly though this is also the most protective she’s ever felt of Snow. It’s the first moment in a long time she hasn’t wanted to throttle the child.

“Do you understand me? Never again Snow! Stay away from her.”

Snow is weeping but not responding.

“Snow! Do you understand?”

“Y-yes,” Snow hiccups “I w-won’t. I-I’ll-“

“Promise,” Regina says.

“P-promise,” Snow stutters.

Regina turns and hurries back to her mother’s quarters leaving Snow sniveling in the hall.

Her mother is angry with her for being late of course and she thinks vaguely as Cora grabs her hair and throws her down that she knew it felt familiar.

Later on sitting on the edge of her bed, not the one she shares with Leopold but the private bedchamber that is some semblance of a refuge, she hears a knock at the door and Snow peeks around the door eyes red-rimmed.

“Are you—still angry with me?” Snow asks softly. Regina shakes her head without really looking at Snow. Snow comes over and startles at the sight of Regina’s lip, cut on one of her mother’s rings, that her mother hadn’t bothered to heal.

“What happened?” Snow reaches as if she is going to touch Regina’s lip but doesn’t.

“Nothing,” Regina answers dully and is consumed by anger when Snow nods and sinks down to rest her head on Regina’s knee because of course it isn’t nothing and Snow should know that, the naïve sniveling child, but the anger fades as she feels her knee go warm and damp from Snow who apparently hasn’t gotten all of the crying out of her system in an afternoon. Eventually she pulls Snow up to rest on her lap even though she’s getting too big for that but Snow comes up willingly and wraps her arms around Regina. The warmth of the little body pressed against her is calming; the first calm she's felt all day.


End file.
